Though the leaders of Canada, the United States and Mexico ceremoniously signed a new trade deal to replace the the North America Free Trade Agreement on Friday, there is still one detail that hasn’t entirely been ironed out. What do you call it?

The trade deal was born out of 11th hour negotiations and acrimonious clashes over steel, security issues and supply management. And bickering over the finer details reportedly dogged negotiators hours until its signing in Buenos Aires this morning. Ambiguity over its name doesn’t exactly seem like a show of unity between the three countries either.

U.S. president Donald Trump, left, and Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, smile during a news conference before the signing of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) at the G-20 Leaders’ Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Friday Nov. 30, 2018.Sarah Pabst/Bloomberg

Since its Sept. 30 birthday, both Canadians and Americans alike called it “USMCA.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland have referenced the deal as USMCA in its early days. But the Canadian government’s official website for the trade deal, updated today, puts Canada first in the acronym: CUSMA. The United States is naturally putting America first with USMCA. And Mexican media is calling the thing “T-MEC” though MUSCA has also been floated as a possibility by those why find USMCA too awkward to pronounce.

U.S. President Donald Trump never really took to NAFTA as a name brand. CNN pointed to an interview where the president was asked if he would pull out of the deal if talks broke down. Trump, whose entire business career is tied to putting his names on real estate projects and other products, largely dodged the question: “I’m not going to use the name NAFTA. I refuse to use it.”

Before an agreement was reached, the Wall Street Journal reported Trump was already calling it the “USMC,” telling Republicans if Canada doesn’t agree to the changes, he would drop the “C” from the name.

No matter what it gets called, here or south of the border, the deal itself could be on shaky ground. Each government still has to approve the agreement. In Mexico, the deal was negotiated under Enrique Peña Nieto, but incoming President-Elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador might decide not to honour it. And Trump is facing a House of Representatives controlled by the Democrats. It’s unlikely they’ll axe USMCA in Congress, but they may see fit to fiddle with the agreement that keeps getting tweaked.

When my assistant said there was a call from the White House, I picked up, said 'Hello' and started to ask if this was a prank

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